Apprentice Buyer Review

My role in Procurement is an apprentice Buyer, this consists of raising purchase orders, resolving issues with invoices to allow for payment as well as working with end users through our shared inboxes to procure items, resolve any issues or queries and help with general Procurement questions. I also have 2 college afternoons a week.

I have developed my skills within IT packages, mainly Excel as I worked with spreadsheets in my old job but never edited or input information. I have learnt skills regarding raising purchase orders and how to use different systems as well as spotting invoicing issues and using business accounts rather than personal accounts when ordering.

I am really enjoying my programme, I like how my college workshops and catch ups are remote as it means they can be recorded and reviewed. I am enjoying working from home but also would like to meet more people that I email in the Trust and would like to experience what Travel we book in Solent when Covid isn't a massive impact.

My programme in Solent is very organised. I have monthly 121s with my manager, 3 monthly reviews with my manager and my apprentice manager. I attend apprentice forums and my college workshops and catch up calls are scheduled monthly. I find it easy to know when I am doing each task and I have a set rota for my work each week.

I receive a lot of support from Solent NHS Trust. Through my manager and the rest of my team and my apprentice manager through our catch ups. My team are really supportive with training and allowing me time for my college work as well as supporting me on a more sociable level.

I have a monthly catch up call with my assessor from Chichester College. These are done on Teams. I can email if I have any queries and then I have a monthly workshop from which my assignments are set. My assessor is encouraging and knows I am working towards a distinction.

My qualification involves topics on project management, which I haven't experienced in my role. This will help me to perform better as I will have increased knowledge on project management as well as increase my knowledge for future roles and tasks that I can get involved in. My qualification is also good to review my evidence and see how much I have changed.

This has been limited a lot by Covid however, Solent have given us a wellbeing day and have put on podcasts as well as calls. I think there are activities such as yoga when Covid isn't an impact but where I only started in October, I haven't experienced this.

Yes

Solent NHS Trust has been a good career change for me. Everyone is really welcoming and I find my work interesting and I think I would now like to stay in Procurement. There's a lot of career opportunities and experiences to work with a lot of teams and a lot of people from different fields.

Be prepared for a busy workload, but also that you'll meet a lot of people that you ordinarily wouldn't. Do research before you apply or attend an interview and make sure you're aware of little details that will hopefully impress your interviewers. Also be open to different job roles as there's a lot of room for change.